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Contributors to Iran quake disaster

The world is rallying efforts to send urgent humanitarian aid to Iran after one of the most lethal earthquakes in at least a decade struck the ancient Silk Road city of Bam.

01 Jan 2004 09:34 GMT

Austrian workers try to uncover survivors

About 1400 international relief workers from 26 countries have converged in the southeastern Iranian city, said Ted Pearn, coordinator of UN relief operations. Iran's Interior Ministry said foreign relief workers arriving in the country to help the survivors of the quake did not need visas.

Since the quake, measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale, struck before dawn on Friday dozens of relief planes had landed in Bam and Kerman, the provincial capital to the northwest.

Representatives from more than 20 countries, including the United States, the European Union states and Norway, met in Geneva with UN aid agencies and Red Cross officials to discuss the disaster and how best to respond, Khalikov told reporters.

Tens of thousands of people have been left homeless and stranded in bitter cold temperatures which descend over Bam at nightfall.